1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to occupant restraint systems for automotive vehicles, and more particularly to a mounting assembly for restraint systems for automotive vehicles employing back-to-back seating arrangements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is legislatively mandated in certain jurisdictions that occupant restraint devices, typically combination lap and shoulder belt arrangements, be provided for each laterally outboard seating position in an automotive vehicle. For vehicles like station wagons, passenger vans, and sport/utility vehicles, which may have more than two longitudinally spaced seating positions, this mandate has resulted in the provision of occupant restraint systems which add significant weight and cost to the manufacture of such vehicles, and which may be mounted in ways viewed as aesthetically unpleasing.
One particularly advantageous solution to the problems of the prior art is that defined in U.S. Ser. No. 08/172,798, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, in which seatbelts deployed with respect to oppositely facing seats are mounted on an intermediate pillar through agency of a single bolt. It has been found, however, that in certain applications, the mounting arrangement is not readily adaptable to certain vehicle designs in that it does not provide flexibility for sequencing the operation of assembly of the seatbelt components in all manners that may be deemed efficient in the assembly plant.
In the embodiment disclosed in the previously mentioned '798 patent application, both of the D-rings which guide the seatbelt webbing of the two seatbelt systems must be assembled together with the single bolt being operative to fix the two belts to the vehicle body. In some applications, it is disadvantageous to provide access to the fastener in the sheetmetal, for example, by leaving a portion untrimmed, until assembly of both the D-rings simultaneously is required.